TOLOLWA MOLLEL'S
Mankind shall live forever!
Anthem of Life is an adaptation of South African Poet Laureate Mazisi Kunene’s Anthem of the Decades: A Zulu Epic. Adapted by Tololwa Mollel—a Tanzania-born, Edmonton-based playwright—and driven by a diverse creative team, the heart of Anthem is a Zulu creation myth. Share Anthem of Life with your students and explore the creation of humanity, debates and intrigues between goddesses and gods over whether to destroy or empower humans, and trials and triumphs humans undergo because of divine actions.
Artwork by Lorraine Shulba
THE STORY SO FAR...
A Zulu boy who loves to write new things about old stories meets his ancestors in a sacred dream and joins them in enacting the Zulu story of creation. The story begins with the Supreme Creator and the Artist God who create and arrange the universe, with special attention given to Earth. The God and Goddess of Thunder and Lightning, as well as the God of Words and his wife, the Destroyer Goddess, gleefully work on finishing Earth, a model planet for the rest of the universe. After some debate, the gods decide to create humans. The God of Words and Destroyer Goddess decide this was a very bad idea, arguing that humans should be wiped out, then replaced with a god-like species. They steal the powerful Charm of Life from the Thunder God and attempt to destroy humanity by sending fearsome creations made with the charm’s aid. These creatures include the terrifying Wild Dogs of Heaven, beloved children of the Destroyer Goddess. Nearly broken but with great courage, humanity triumphs by taming the divine hounds with fire. Humans have tamed divine creatures—this turns the cosmos upside down! Still, the Destroyer Goddess vows to wipe humans out, even if it means the destruction of her beloved dogs. Following debate amongst the gods, the Princess of Heaven proclaims that humans shall be immortal and tasks the Artist God with finding an animal worthy of delivering the news to humanity. Different animals undergo a challenge involving heat, cold, and Kiswahili singing, ending in a celebratory dance and a surprising winner! Throughout the story, the Zulu boy asks questions of his ancestors, sometimes challenging them on the fairness of the story. In the midst of dance, the shadow of the Destroyer Goddess appears and pronounces, “I will not be thwarted.” On this cliffhanger, the first of the three-part epic ends.
Bring Anthem to Life in Your Classroom This Black History Month
Learn from and celebrate the African and Black artists behind Anthem of Life—a visually stunning play from Alberta for Grades 3 to PhD!
It's important to us that Anthem of Life is accessible, so we've done our best to balance affordability with paying livable wages. However, with the understanding that what is "affordable" is incredibly relative, we encourage you to contact us about alternative pricing if these experiences are out of your price range.
.png)
_edited.png)
*Note that these prices apply to single-artist Talkbacks/Workshops.
Please contact us for options and pricing regarding multi-artist experiences.
Curricular Connections
Explore some of the possible curricular connections to be found in Anthem of Life, as well as its Artist Talkbacks and Workshops, below. If you’d like to delve into a connection that isn’t mentioned here, request a customization and our team will try our best to meet your classroom’s needs!
Do you need a better idea of what Anthem looks like before booking?
From the Chairman of the Mazisi Kunene Foundation Trust
An excerpt from a letter of support
The Board of the Mazisi Kunene Foundation wishes to salute, congratulate and thank Theatre Prospero for developing and staging “Age of the Gods” as the first part of the trilogy of the great Zulu epic: “Anthem of the Decades”, written by the late Dr Mazisi Kunene, the Poet Laureate of South Africa.
As South Africans we were inspired and moved by your work to bring this great epic anthology to life in theater form in order that the mythic codes of the great Zulu nation could be engaged and enjoyed. It is the vision of the Mazisi Kunene Foundation to disseminate the works of Professor Kunene globally in order that they form part of the lexicon of understanding and embellishing our shared complex humanity.
Photos by Joselito Angeles
SUPPORTED BY
